Uzumaki Karin ( 生まれ変わった )
by castleheart
Summary: After a death that was dyed red, I was reborn into a woman with equally blood stained hair. Being reborn into Karin was enough culture shock for me, but how am I supposed survive in a world that is fated to screw my character over? Not this time around! OC/SI as Karin. Pairing undecided.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

* * *

 _"You can't choose what stays and what fades away." -_ No Light, No Light by Florence and the Machine

* * *

Dying wasn't fun.

Let me rephrase that… Dying _sucked_.

I wasn't lucky enough to get granted a swift and painless death. My death was agonizing, and slow. I was walking home on a winter night, which was never a good idea. I had a night class on Thursdays, and usually I drove to and from school but my car was in the shop. Walking wasn't so bad; it gave me a chance to get some fresh air and it was great exercise. The air was freezing, and I was trying my best not to slip on the icy ground. Snow gathered in the streets of Japan on this December night, but it had stopped for now.

Some J-pop band was playing through the headphones in my ears, and I hummed along. This was before I noticed the swerving car coming down the deserted street, and I paused in my walking to stare curiously. Little to my knowledge; there was a drunk driver behind the driver's seat. I didn't have time to react or do much, because the car suddenly swerved in my direction. Blinded by the headlights, I stumble to move out the way but the ice frozen over the sidewalk causes me to slip and fall flat on my face. I lift my head in time to see the car hurtling towards me.

Pain exploded across my body as the car directly hit me, running me over and swerving as it slammed against a nearby pole. I crumple against the gutter like a broken doll, lying motionless in the snow as my killer speeds off without checking to see if I was okay. The driver was probably too much of a coward to even call an ambulance, since there was a chance he could get thrown in jail. Apparently, he didn't think I was worth the risk, and thought it better to just leave me on the side of the road.

I try to move, but I can't. Was my spine broken? I couldn't tell. I was paralyzed, unable to move and left to die in the cold. I wish I could've called for an ambulance, but my phone was likely broken from when the car hit me. I didn't know what to do; I was scared, and alone. I did something that I hadn't done in a long time… I prayed.

I closed my eyes as tears dripped down the sides of my face, ' _Please, Kami…_ ' I try to shift, but no matter how much I wanted to move, I couldn't. Breathing was starting to get difficult as well, ' _I wanna live, please?_ '

Blood spilled down the side of my mouth, and my eyelids were getting too heavy for me to keep them open. I allow my head to sag to the side, my eyes sliding half-mast as I caught sight of my own blood staining the pure white snow beneath me. The red contrasted heavily against the white, I might've thought it looked like some sort of elaborate painting. Nope; just the blood of a dying girl.

I close my eyes, and my mind went blank.

* * *

The end right? You'd think so.

Once I "saw the light", I was sure it would be over for me. Heaven, hell, I was prepared for either one. If there was no such thing as either, I was prepared for an eternity of sitting in the darkness, alone. I thought my struggles were over.

I'm not sure how long I was in the dark place; unable to move, completely alone and confused. Time passed by, I'm not sure how long it was. Suddenly, I caught sight of the infamous "light". The light that supposedly lead to your next life. I only hesitated for a moment before I allowed myself to be pulled in, and I was relieved to be out that dark place. Once I stepped into this light, I could finally be at peace.

Or so I thought.

Apparently, the light I stepped into lead to an emergency room. The "dark place" I was in… I don't even want to elaborate. I hadn't known that was my new mother's womb I was in.

I came into this world crying in confusion, unable to express my emotions any other way than wailing about it. I had no idea what was going on as the doctor passed me to the woman lying in the hospital bed, still sweating, and panting from giving birth.

"She's a beautiful, healthy girl," the doctor hums as he hands me to my mother.

I continue to wail even as my mother rocked and shushed me, "Already quite a troublemaker, Karin? Shh, now, mommy's got you."

Truth be told, I wasn't crying because I was a newborn and didn't know better. I was crying because I realized that I had to go through life…again.

When I told God that I wanted to live, this wasn't what I had in mind.

Reincarnation sucks.

* * *

It didn't take me long to realize that I was reborn into the Narutoverse. My mother called me Karin, and after a year passed, my flaming red hair grew out to my shoulders. It wasn't any more shocking considering everything that's happened, but I couldn't believe I was reborn as a canon character! That was definitely freaky.

Being a toddler was weird, too. I relied on my mother for everything, and breastfeeding was equally strange. It was something I refused to do at first, but milk is essential to my health and it was the only way for my mom to feed me. Eventually, I got hungry and I let my mom breastfeed me, and once I gotten used to it, it wasn't as horrible as when I first did it. Awkward, but bearable.

We were a poor family that lived in a small hut, on the outskirts of a small town in Kusagakure. It was just my mom and I, my father hadn't been around ever since before I was born. I didn't even know what he looked like. I asked about him for years, but my mother would always brush me off. It was painfully obvious that something tragic had happened, and I assume that he's dead. That would be the only feasible excuse. Karin's lineage was always sort of a mystery—hell, nobody knows what her real parents' names are! I didn't even know my own mom's name.

However, I did know everything about the plot. I knew that my childhood, especially, would not be an easy one. I came to the realization that I had to be prepared for what was to come. I sure as hell wasn't going to let anyone bite me and use me in the horrendous way Karin was used. I wasn't going to allow myself to go through what Karin went through. I already had a good chance of avoiding said situations since I knew what was coming. Karin's abilities were never anything to sneeze at.

I started practicing chakra control when I was three. I know that this is essential to learning Ninjutsu and making my jutsu's more likely to succeed. Karin possessed the Adamantine Attacking Chains, and I was eager to learn that bad ass move that was pulled seemingly out of nowhere. And that had been a mere unfinished version. I started by focusing on the spiritual part of chakra control, rather than the physical part. I was still too small to start throwing kunai and punching wooden poles. I spent many hours a day meditating; focusing on my chakra and getting used to the feel of it.

My mom would sometimes catch me reading scrolls that held information about how to control chakra spiritually, and even scrolls that were just about chakra control in general. She found it peculiar that I was so young yet I could understand what the scrolls were saying. She never understood why I took such interest in something like researching at such a young age, and I never explained it to her. Whenever she asked I would brush her off or distractedly change the subject. I hated the way she talked to me; like I was an ignorant child.

Well… Physically I was.

How could I ever explain it to her, anyways?

"Hey, so I'm not actually your daughter. I'm just some unlucky dead girl who woke up in your daughter's body."

Yeah, I seriously doubted that would go over so well.

Besides, my mom was ill and dying. She wouldn't be around for too long, and I know I should've felt awful about it. There wasn't anything I could do; all the chakra control in the world wouldn't stop a disease from eating away at my mom's body. I wasn't sure when it was going to happen, but I do know that she's going to die when Karin was at a very young age. It was tragic, but I had no choice but to let it happen.

* * *

You never know how much you care for a person until you lose them. I never really agreed with such a cheesy saying, but I learned a lot in my short life as Karin Uzumaki. One of those things was how it felt when you lose someone precious to you.

I've never experienced grief before; I know it sounds weird but it's true. No one close to me has died before, not even in my previous life. I guess I was just lucky.

My mother died on a winter night; an ironic situation that would've normally made me chuckle. She passed peacefully in her sleep; the illness ate away at her until there was nothing left. She gotten worse over the years, and at last, the disease claimed her life. I knew it was coming, and yet…

"Mom!" My tears fog up the inside of my glasses, and my tiny hand is clinging to hers. Her hand was unbearably cold, and she wasn't moving. Her eyes had closed, and her breathing was getting fainter and fainter. At that moment, I felt as helpless as I actually was; a six-year-old, watching the only family she had in this world, die. My mom's eyes flutter open once more, and I suck in a hopeful breath as her stormy gray eyes meet mine.

"Mom!?"

Her lips crack into a small, loving smile, before her eyes slip close once again. Her chest stopped moving, and she let out a final breath.

Her eyes never opened again.

* * *

 **a/n** : so this got pretty good reception, which is why I will be continuing it. there's a poll on my profile on who you _**think** _ karin will end up with. I am curious to know! don't forget to leave a review, and follow!

 **EDIT 4/18/2017** : ok, so I noticed how short the chapters were so I just combined the first chap and the prologue! I like it better this way.


	2. Kusagakure Arc: Chapter 1

**1.**

* * *

 _"Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart."_ – Kahlil G.

* * *

I was bullied a lot.

It sounds incredibly cliché, but I stuck out like a sore thumb among kids my age. Well, kids who were _physically_ my age. Sometimes I forgot that I'm technically twenty-four years old now, but my brain thought I really was just a kid due to how undeveloped it was at the moment. The older I grew, the more brain capacity I had. It was confusing. I react to situations like a kid would, but I also was known to be a very serious and quiet child.

My hair was the main target; my bullies enjoyed pulling on it or calling it an ugly color. I always thought my hair was pretty and unique, but that eventually dissipated as the bullying escalated. I never gave them the satisfaction of seeing me cry, or showing them that I was upset in any way, but they seemed to enjoy torturing me either way.

"Your hair is hideous!" Mei, one of my main bullies, taunted me with a sneer on her prepubescent features. Her friends, or lackeys, I liked to call them, were standing behind her with equally ugly smirks on their features, "And your glasses are stupid, too! How can you be anything but a burden without your sight?!"

My cheeks flush red in embarrassment, their mocking laughs ringing in my ears. Sometimes, it was hard to let insults bounce off me. I know these girls were just ignorant jerks, but this has been happening ever since I moved in with my new family. Nobody in this town liked me, at least none of the kids did.

I was fond of my hair; it's noteworthy color and style was something I was quite proud of. I stuck out from the rest, and I thought it was a good thing. Now I realize that it wasn't, sticking out or being different in any way immediately got you ostracized from the rest. Didn't watching _Naruto_ the first time around teach me anything?

The glasses I wished I could do without, but it wasn't like I asked to be born with shitty vision.

"Are you done?" I ask in the most stoic tone possible, though that only seems to add fuel to the fire. Mei's expression twisted in rage and the next thing I know, my hair is grabbed and yanked rather violently. I cringe and wince, but refuse to cry out. Too stubborn to give her the satisfaction.

"Don't get cocky with me, ugly girl!" she screams into my face, and I have to clench my teeth in order to stop myself from decking her right then and there. I may be scrappy, but it was three against one here. I wasn't sure what these girls eat for breakfast, but they were all bigger than I was. Also, solving violence with violence was never the answer. I'm not Ghandi or anything, but I refuse to stoop to their level.

"I'm not," I bite out, still wincing at the hand twisted in my crimson locks, "I'm just saying; I'm tired of you guys. Don't you have better things to do than torment me? In all honesty, I think you're pathetic."

I came to regret those words since it ended with her knee buried in my gut. I cough and lurch over, holding my bruised stomach as I collapsed to the floor. The wind had been knocked out of me, and once I hit the dirt, my glasses flew off and skittered a few inches away. Mei wasted no time in stomping on them, rubbing them into the dirt tauntingly. Their laughter rang in my ears again.

"You're the one who's looking quite pathetic right now," Mei says smugly, obviously quite pleased with herself. She laughs in a deceivingly cute manner, flipping her hair before she turned and pranced away, her lackeys following closely behind, "See you tomorrow, ugly!"

' _This world…'_ I push myself up with slightly shaky arms, resting on my knees as my hand curled around my bruised abdomen. My vision is as bad as ever; everything looked blurry and I couldn't focus enough to find where the remains of my glasses were, ' _has a lot of ugly people in it.'_

To my horror, there were tears streaming down my chubby cheeks. What a childish reaction, I scold myself as I wipe the tears away with the back of my small arm. My brain seemed to think that since I was a child, crying was the only way I could express my sadness, frustration, or anger. How embarrassing.

"Karin-chan?"

I pause in my sobbing to look up at the familiar blurry face of Akihiko, the biological son of the couple who took me in. He was a quiet fourteen-year-old, but he was always kind to me. I didn't know him very well though; I tend to avoid my adoptive family.

"Akihiko-san," I sniffled in response, holding a fist against my chest self-consciously and keeping my gaze lowered.

"What happened?" he knelt down in front of me, picking up my broken spectacles and dusting the dirt off them, "Who did this to you?"

"Nobody," I replied in a grumble, my bangs hiding my eyes as my shoulders sagged. I couldn't and didn't want to tell him; I didn't trust this family that much anyways. Plus, he would tell Chisote, and she would make a huge deal out of the disrespect shown to her family, and I would not add 'snitch' to the list of insults thrown at me on a daily basis.

"Nobody? Really?"

"Yeah, I fell!" I insisted defiantly, doing my best to glare at him through my tears, "Got a problem?!"

He stares at me for a long moment, before a chuckle slips out his mouth. I couldn't really tell, but I was fairly sure he was smiling at me, "Even when you're in tears, you're quite a spitfire, aren't you?"

I "hmph!" and look away; he suddenly reaches over and I was too surprised to react immediately. His arm slides under my knees, another going around my back before he lifts me up princess style. Not used to being lifted in such a manner, I blush, "What are you doing?"

"Taking you home," he replied casually, walking in the direction of home, "You can't see at all without your glasses, right? It'll be faster if I carry you."

I was still blushing a bit, but I hesitantly nodded and just tried to relax in his arms. It was kinda nice; I haven't been carried since I was a toddler. And it was by my mother; not some cute boy who I barely knew. I didn't understand why he even cared; we didn't know each other very well, and he had no reason to help or care about me. He hasn't paid much attention to me when I first started living with his family.

Still… I smile and lean my head hesitantly against his chest at first, but eventually I relax fully in his arms. It was the first time I felt cared for since my mother died.

' _There's a lot of ugly people in this world… But there are a lot of beautiful people in it too.'_

* * *

"What happened?"

There was no concern in my adoptive mother's voice, and that wasn't surprising at all. She didn't care like my real mother would, and that was fine. I stood with my head lowered, my eyes on the floor, "I fell."

Akihiko was standing next to me, one hand resting on my shoulder and the other gripping my broken glasses. He stepped forward and handed the older woman the ruined spectacles, releasing my shoulder as he did so, "She needs a new pair, mom."

Chisote 'tsked' but nodded, "Of course. Karin, come with me. Akihiko, you have chores to get to."

"Yes mother," Akihiko says respectfully, bowing before he exited the room. He threw a glance and a smile at me over his shoulder, and I fight away a blush with everything I got. Chisote rests a hand on my shoulder, before leading me through the house.

The house was spacious, and big. I wouldn't call my adoptive family rich exactly, but they lived a comfortable life. Chisote used to be a kunoichi, but she was long retired and enjoyed the cushy life of a housewife. Her husband, Jun, is a shinobi and probably out on a mission or something right now. Chisote even had her own study; which was where I found myself when the woman paused and ventured in. I follow, and stand meekly near the doorway as she goes to her desk to rummage through it.

She goes into the first drawer, and pulls out a small black case that appeared to be for eyewear. Curious, I wait for her to explain.

"Your mother kept a spare in case you lost or broke your pair," Chisote says, opening the case and pulling out a pair of black rimmed glasses. My eyes tear up again; my heart fluttering with relief. My brown rimmed glasses were the only thing I had left of my deceased mother, and it was just so like her to be prepared if I broke my main glasses. I thought I'd lost the last momento of my mother forever.

Chisote surprisingly doesn't scold me for the display of emotion, she just slides the glasses unto my face. My vision sharpens instantly, bringing her face into focus. I blink owlishly, my retinas practically sighing in relief.

"Thank you," I whisper, and I surprise myself at my own sincerity.

She is beautiful, even in her older age. Chisote has the same chocolate brown eyes that Akihiko possesses, and long dark hair. She usually has it up in a bun when she's doing chores or cooking dinner, but right now it was down and flowed to her waist. She was athletically built, her body toned from her days as a kunoichi and she didn't seem to gain an ounce of fat at all. She wore a house kimono, an outfit she sports almost every day. There are telltale lines of age around her eyes and lips, but she was a strict and scary woman. Not even I had the audacity to give her lip. But I had nothing to worry about; she didn't care enough about me to be too strict or demanding of me, she mostly ignored me.

Which was perfectly fine; we both knew she took me in out of pity, and the debt she owed my mother for saving her husband's life back in the day. Apparently, Jun was fatally injured after a failed mission, and all the medics said that there was no hope. My mom then stepped in and healed him with a method only we could do.

I shiver at the thought; if anyone ever tried to take advantage of me in that manner, I'd kill them. My mom told them to keep zipped lips about it, and they were too grateful to care about blabbing it everywhere. I was grateful she kept it a secret all the way to the grave, it something I planned to do as well. I'd probably be passed around Kuasgakaure's hospital like a tool to be used; especially since there was a war going on.

If anyone bites me, it'll be because I want them to.

"I'll get these fixed," Chisote brushes off my appreciation and I was glad for it, "Now, go out and play, but clean yourself up first. You're filthy!"

I look down at myself, and realize that she is right. The lavender kimono I was sporting was covered in dirt, probably from me getting my ass kicked earlier, "Yes, ma'am."

* * *

I took a long bath, relaxing in the hot water for who knows how long. I got out when my fingers started to look overly wrinkly, and tossed my kimono into the hamper for dirty clothes.

Instead of going out to 'play'—which usually consists of training—I redress in a black tank top and tan shorts, before heading out the back door. As expected, Akihiko is doing laundry. He's hanging damp sheets over the clothing line, and taking dry ones down and folding them neatly in a small basket.

He caught sight of me as I sat down on the porch steps, "Feeling better?"

I nod, "I just wanted to say thank you for helping me."

He smiles, "That's what family's for, right?"

The word hits me square in the gut and leaves me breathless for a few moments. Family. What was family? I could barely understand the word anymore, or what the meaning of it was. My mom was the only family I've had in this world, and she was gone.

I return his smile, but it's not genuine, "Yeah, I guess."

The wind chose to blow harshly at that moment, causing my crimson locks to swish in the breeze. I draw my knees to my chest, and a comfortable silence settles between us. It was beautiful out here; the grass was a perfect green, and the sun shone brightly in the blue sky. Birds flew overhead; oh how I envied them. If I were a bird, I'd fly as far away from here as possible.

' _Ugly!'_

Despite everything that happened, Mei's words were still in my mind. It wasn't just today; I've been called ugly many times by many different people. Mostly because of my hair and my glasses. It was getting harder not to believe.

"Akihiko-san," I spoke so softly, I wasn't even sure if he heard me. However, he turns away from the sheet he was adjusting to stare at me with chocolate brown eyes, and I quickly avert my gaze to the ground.

"What is it, Karin-chan?"

I avoid his gaze at all costs, my eyes peeking over my knees but at the ground, the sun reflecting off my spectacles, "Do you think I'm ugly?"

Akihiko seemed taken aback by this question, judging from his silence. I stay quiet, my gaze low even when he approaches me. He stands in front of me, hands on his knees, probably trying to catch my gaze but I stubbornly stared at my feet.

"What kind of question is that? Where did this come from?" he asks, but even I don't know the answers.

"Just answer my question first, it's common courtesy," I chide him lightly, one hand going up to stroke self-consciously at a stray strand of red hair.

"Karin," he kneels down in front of me, pretty much forcing me to look him in the eye now, "You're beautiful."

 _Ba-dump._

My cheeks flush red at the compliment, my eyes widening in shock. I had expected a different answer entirely; my adoptive brother completely caught me off guard with the answer. Stupid heart, would you shut up in there?

"B—But, my hair—"

"What about it? I mean, it's your best feature if anything," his smile is warm and sincere, and I just want to pull him into a tight hug at that moment. I swallow thickly as he continued, "I bet whoever's teasing you is just jealous or insecure in their own hearts. Your hair is as beautiful and unique as you are, don't be ashamed of it."

It was the nicest thing anyone has ever told me in this life; including my mother. My mom has called me adorable and cute, but never beautiful. I always thought she merely said that because she was my mother and she had to, but now I genuinely believed it. Despite my self-doubts, I return his warm smile with a genuine one of my own.

In that moment, I truly felt beautiful.

* * *

 **a/n** : yay for sibling moments! Even if they aren't technically siblings, lol. This is Karin's first bond since she's entered the Narutoverse, so expect a lot more OC's and drama coming along. Poll is still up on my profile; so, go ahead and vote to see who you think Karin will end up with! I'm not picky; it can be yuri or hetero I feel like Karin would swing either way. Also, if anyone's confused on her age, she's now six here.


	3. announcement

Hey guys! Sorry if you thought this was another chapter but I have an announcement to make!

My laptop broke :( unfortunately that means I have to use the family's computer to write/update my stories. Which also means that updates are going to be pretty slow until I replace mine.

Thank you for your patience. I love you guys!


End file.
